'Local' means local, which means a folder on your PC and NOT on the ACCOUNT. If you have the old computer, they can be easily restored. If you do not have that computer, then they are lost. AND, creating backups is not rocket science. So, if the old computer is still around, let me know, and I'll help you salvage the folders. Thank you.

Okay, not only do I have the old computer with a perfectly fine Windows 10 hard drive. But I also backed everything up on an external hard drive....and I also backed up, (I thought) everything on an Idrive account. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought my email information was also included in the back up. Like I said, I'm no genius here, but I'm no dummy either. What confounds me is that these local folders are a part of my account, my email account, and I don't understand why I can't bring those files with me. Nevertheless....it would appear that's not the case.

So, having the old hard drive with all that info, also having the external hard drive and the Idrive cloud account, and also a Microsoft cloud account. Could it be retrieved through the external hard drive or Idrive, as opposed to having to bring back my old hard drive? Which I'm perfectly happy to do, with good instructions on how to do so. Then I come to the question of what to do in the future, should this happen again? Should I just come up with a different plan? Perhaps file my info elsewhere to avoid this in the future? I enjoyed having those files at my fingertips for reference....but sometimes change can be good I suppose! Tell me what you think is best David. I'm more than happy to listen to an expert!

Michael....

OK, when transferring to new computer, here are the steps that work 100% if followed carefully:

Here is the link for moving a profile in Windows when installed in default location:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer

here is the info in brief steps:

1. ensure thunderbird is NOT running on old machine
2. enter %appdata% in search window on task bar and press Enter key
3. this should open windows file explorer in Appdata\roaming folder
4. highlight the Thunderbird folder and copy to external media
5. ensure thunderbird is installed on second computer and NOT running
6. enter %appdata% in search window on task bar and press Enter key
7. you should be in Appdata\roaming folder , copy&paste the exported Thunderbird folder there. This may prompt to overwrite an existing folder of same name. allow it
8. start thunderbird and all should be there

If you already have thunderbird installed and accounts set up and have local folders to transfer, it's really only a matter of cutting and pasting. If you're comfortable with windows file explorer, a quick solution is this:

- click help>troubleshootinginformation - scroll down to profile folder and click 'open folder' - exit thunderbird. - you are now in the profile. note the exact location on hard drive. - click the Mail folder and then the Local Folder - this is where you want to paste the old local folders - remember the location - now, locate the Mail\Local Folders on backup. it may be accessible at users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird\profiles\<profilename> (The name of the profile is in the text file named profiles.ini within the thunderbird folder) locate the Mail\Local Folders folder and copy everything there and paste into the above referenced place

If you would like more assistance, just let me know. I encourage saving the above mentioned steps for transfering to other computers. Those steps are also good for periodic backups (the first four steps) which I suggest doing periodically.